AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #137, October 18, 1991
Denny Smith
One of the most important outcomes of the study was the discovery that AZT did not adversely affect liver functions, which tend to be chronically abnormal in people with hemophilia because of repeated transfusions of pooled blood products. A large majority of people with hemophilia continue to be infected with hepatitis C through infusions of clotting factors. In the past, elevated liver enzymes have frequently been used to exclude potential participants from AIDS clinical trials. So hemophiliacs were routinely denied access to important investigational drugs, even though their underlying liver problems were essentially stable.
We asked Brad Lewis, M. D., of the Adult Hemophilia Program at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley, California, about the significance of protocol 036. He said that the results were of course welcome, but not a surprise, and that physicians treating this patient population had been giving AZT when appropriate anyway.
However, Dr. Lewis feels real progress was made by completing a clinical trial which enabled patients to be enrolled outside of ACTG centers. The clinicians at ACTG sites are not usually familiar with the medical aspects of hemophilia. This trial instead enrolled patients through local hemophilia treatment centers, where people with hemophilia are already monitored by their primary physician.
Dr. Lewis is now following some of his patients on ddI and ddC, and he has not seen any problems that are not already noted in the non-hemophiliac population. On the other hand, he feels that the question of exactly when to begin intervention in asymptomatic infection still has not been answered, whether or not hemophilia is an additional factor.
911018
ATN13703
Copyright © 1991 - AIDS Treatment News. Permission granted for noncommercial reproduction, provided that our address and phone number are included if more than short quotations are used. Subscription lists are kept confidential. AIDS Treatment News, Subscription and Editorial Office: 1233 Locust St., 5th floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 800/TREAT-1-2 toll-free email: aidsnews@critpath.org http://www.aidsnews.org
Subscription Information: Call 800/TREAT-1-2: Businesses, Institutions, Professionals: $270/year. Includes early delivery of an extra copy by email. Nonprofit organizations: $135/year. Includes early delivery of an extra copy by email. Individuals: $120/year, or $70 for six months. Special discount for persons with financial difficulties: $54/year, or $30 for six months. If you cannot afford a subscription, please write or call. Outside North, Central, or South America, add air mail postage: $20/year, $10 for six months. Back issues available. Fax subscriptions, bulk rates, and multiple subscriptions are available; contact our office for details. Please send U.S. funds: personal check or bank draft, international postal money order, or travelers checks. VISA, Mastercard, and purchase orders also accepted. ISSN # 1052-4207
AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1991. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 1991. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .